I've wanted an underground home for years. I mentioned it to my wife, and she nodded, but didn't really say anything. I figured she was just humoring me, as spouses often do when their SO says something crazy.
Fast forward a few months, we're driving to Oregon from California as we did on occasion. We're out in the middle of nowhere when my wife, who's looking out the window, gets my attention and points out the intermodal shipping containers stacked up at some place. "Honey," she says, "we could probably buy those used, reinforce them, and bury them for less then we'd pay to build an underground home from scratch. We could put them side by side, or in some pattern, and get all the living space we need. What do you think?"
Lords of Kobol, I love that woman.
When we were last buying property, she was also looking for places outside of city limits that we could use for our underground home in the future. We almost bought a plot outside Springfield, OR that we would finance by moving her parents home there from the park its in and having them cover the mortgage (cheaper then the park rates), but we ended up passing on the deal. We're still looking, but it's a long term plan. I've done some load calculations, and it wouldn't be easy (dirt is heavy), but the basic idea is to buy the extended height shipping containers, (40'x8.5'x9' if I recall) which sell for between $2-3K each (probably less if I had the money in hand and really pounded the pavement, ready to buy, this was just after a brief internet search to see the basic range) and lay them out in a cruciform/plus shape, two aside, with an open area in the middle. We'd dig the hole about 15 feet deep, pour gravel or other appropriate drainage (I'd get someone smarter then me to ok the plan, survey the property) reinforce the containers as needed (under the advice of a mechanical engineer), then coat them with tar and plastic and bury them. Cement pillars in the center, with poured concrete retaining walls to make the center area strong, and have it extend up to the ground level. Atop that, put in a steel frame, put a floor on it, and put one of those miniature houses (that 15' x 15' or therabouts) that you occasionally see as Espresso booths, except modeled to look exactly like a tiny tiny 0 room cottage) and then lay out a lawn over the whole dig with a path going up to the mini house. Open the door, and it's a ramp going to the living area.
Use fiberoptic light pipes for the central area, and have a tree planted in the middle.
Each of the 'arms' of the house would have a 3' corrugated culver pipe (the kind you see providing drainage under roads) with a floor going from one arm to the next for ventilation, and partway down one or more of them I'd put in an intersection tunnel that goes out a few hundred feet to an escape hatch, which is maybe disguised by a bush and out of sight of the house.
That's the Mark I home fantasy. Before we'd do it, we'd do another price comparison to see if we can get what we want with poured concrete barriers instead, or whatever else is available.
Anyhow, my wife supports the idea, and it's on our 'eventually' list.
